We use cookies where necessary to allow us to understand how people interact with our website and content, so that we can continue to improve our service.
We only ever receive anonymous information, and cannot track you across other websites.
View our privacy policy
In July 2023, the Uxbridge by-election was – rightly or wrongly – interpreted as indicating there was appetite among voters for anti net-zero sentiment and rhetoric. Whilst some of the measures Rishi Sunak subsequently announced in September 2023 – slowing down the phase out of gas boilers and petrol/diesel vehicles – received a positive reaction from Conservative voters in polling, there was no obvious gain in political capital.
The heavy losses incurred by the Conservatives in two subsequent October 2023 by-elections are being read by some political commentators as a sign that the anti net zero push didn’t bring voters flocking back to the party.
Sam Hall, the Director of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN), argued that Sunak is ‘gambling with his party’s hard won green credentials’.
Read the Climate Barometer’s analysis of what the Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire by-elections do – and don’t – tell us about public opinion on climate policies.
Public support for climate policies – from heat pumps, to home insulation, to electric vehicles – has always been about a lot more than just having access to the right facts.
Someone might like the sound of an EV, but not (yet) be able to afford it. Plenty of people have heard scare stories about heat pumps (although the views of people who actually know someone who has had one installed, tend to be more positive).
But a number of recent polls – from ECIU and Climate Barometer’s tracker – shine a light on the importance of building familiarity with EVs, because misconceptions abound.
For example, ECIU polling found that more than 5 in 10 (54%) petrol car drivers think EV drivers run out of charge at least once a year but, in reality, more than 8 in 10 (82%) of EV drivers report never running out of charge.
This is a significant misperception sitting behind the ‘range anxiety’ sometimes cited as a reason not to switch to an EV.
Climate Barometer polling tested a range of ‘anti-net zero’ narratives and soundbites, and found very few of them currently have any cut through with the public. But there was one exception: 40% of people say they don’t think EVs are more environmentally friendly than cars (when in fact they are).
And this wasn’t the only misconception about EVs.
When people were reminded that only new vehicles (not second hand ones) will be phased out after 2030, there was a 9% increase in people saying that the phase out would not affect them at all.
Support for the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars was higher (+5%), and opposition is lower (-6%) when people were reminded that it is only new vehicle sales which must be zero emissions by 2030 (39% support, 38% oppose), compared to support without the prompt about second-hand vehicles (34% support, 44% oppose).
This is a statistically significant difference.
The new Labour government has brought its plans for a publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy, to parliament.
The Great British Energy Bill was formally introduced to the House of Commons on the 25th of July, and the bill is expected to pass through its second stage in early September.
Following a long-standing commitment to base the energy company in Scotland, Labour have since announced GB Energy will be headquartered in Aberdeen.
Has support for net zero risen or fallen since the election?
Following the General Election, there is a clear uptick in support for the country’s net zero targets. Support for net zero by 2050 is at its highest point in almost 2 years, yet enthusiasm for some flagship policies hasn’t yet caught up.